Comparison of various preservation technologies on physico-chemical and organoleptic characteristics of oyster mushrooms

Due to the short span of marketable life of fresh oyster mushrooms,various preservation processes including chemical,drying and canning are being carried out to extend the shelf life of these nutritious commodities. the present study was conducted to find out the best method for the chemical preservation of pleurotus ostreatus (oyster mushroom). also the study was aimed to explore the effect of various preserving methods on the nutrient composition of the preserved oyster mushrooms. a total of eight chemical treatments (t 0-t 7) along with canning method were employed in this study. it was observed that out of the eight chemical treatments,treatment t 4 ( 2% acetic acid,0.1% sodium benzoate,0.15% potassium metabisulfite),t 5 ( 0.5% acetic acid,0.1% sodium benzoate,1.5% potassium metabisulfite,5% common salt) and canned were successful in preserving the oyster mushrooms for the target number of 45 days. after being preserved for 45 days the samples were analyzed for proximate composition,iron,zinc and vitamin c content. the organoleptic evaluation was conducted which indicated the overall acceptability of 90%,80.62%,80.74% and 79.67% for fresh,t 4,t 5 and canned respectively.